


Carnival of Reluctance

by OmnipresentNuance



Series: The Loud Sharp Chronicles [3]
Category: The Loud House (Cartoon)
Genre: Big Sisters, Carnival, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Little Brothers, School, Sibling Love, Sibling comfort, Slow Burn, bad day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:36:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24794008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmnipresentNuance/pseuds/OmnipresentNuance
Summary: Sam has been through a bad day at school and wants to just stow away at home, except she really can’t because she’s reminded by her little brother Simon that today’s the day that both are to meet up with Luna and Lincoln at a carnival that’s in town. Not wanting to break any promises, Sam lets the plan go on while also hoping her own bad day doesn’t wreck the proceedings.
Series: The Loud Sharp Chronicles [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1729846
Kudos: 2





	Carnival of Reluctance

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, good day, greetings and all sorts of other assorted happy salutations. Five days later and here we are again. That counts as an 'additional amount of time' between uploads like I mentioned before right? Sure, we'll go with that.
> 
> We return now to "The Loud Sharp Chronicles" for its third official entry. This one puts Sam in the central role and it also features the debut of Simon as well, all in a fun day at a carnival. I chose to do something like that as opposed to going with, say, Dairyland just for the sake of being different.
> 
> Yeah, pretty short intro, but hey, that means you can get right to reading! Enjoy!
> 
> The Loud House is the exclusive property of Nickelodeon and Viacom. The usage of the setting, characters and such is based on nothing more than a pure affinity for everything and is not being used for monetary purposes.

If there was one thing Sam Sharp wanted more than anything in the world right now, that would be for this miserable day to come to a final, merciful end for her.

There were five more minutes of the school day until the weekend could officially commence, but that felt like five hours to her and every second until then may have well as been stretched out into a minute.

For whatever reason, be it poor decision making, absent mindedness, maybe fate itself having it out for her on this day or any other reasoning or combination of such, Sam went though one of the rougher days at school she's ever had. It all began not even five minutes in when some pair of klutzy idiots spilled a small amount of a substance from a science project of theirs all over the back of her signature blue jacket, making her have to do a rudimentary clean up and wiping down of it and then having to leave it in her locker for the rest of the day until she could get it washed back at home. This by itself wouldn't ordinarily be enough to wreck Sam's day, but being most anywhere else aside from home without that jacket on sort of made her feel incomplete for a lack of better terms, as it was an integral part of her public image.

Because of that little incident, it caused Sam to be a few minutes late for the first class of the day. She ended up getting lectured by the teacher right in front of everyone else, and even some of the class snickered over the reason for why she was late.

After the humiliation of those two things, Sam's day did improve during the latter hours of the morning. But unfortunately for her, lunchtime brought about more misfortune. While the actual duration of eating went fairly smoothly, it was right as she got up to throw away the trash that she tripped over her own two feet and slammed hard face first in the floor, getting herself a little bit of a bloody nose on top of that.

A quick trip to the nurse's office later that thankfully didn't find anything else wrong other than the brief leakage of blood and Sam would be on her way, but also late for another class. At least the saving grace here was that her reasoning for being late was understandable and thus no lecturing and subsequent public humiliation in front of her classmates did not ensue.

But once again any streak of no mishaps got dashed promptly. Gym class brought about the single most embarrassing incident of the whole day. After the class had wrapped up, Sam was about to change from her gym clothes to her regular ones. However, those clothes ended up going missing as a result of some immature pranksters who thought it would be oh so funny to snatch them away and force Sam to wear her gym clothes for the last remaining class of the day. Again, like having to not wear her jacket for most of the day, this shouldn't be much of an issue other than inconvenience, but given the particularly intense gym class she had and aside from a mild rinsing off of her face, Sam faced complaints from a few students of a slight stench of perspiration coming from her.

Finally, the clock struck three and Sam had never been happier in recent times to hear the sound of the final school bell. Just in the nick of time before she could head home, some good sanitarians had retrieved her clothes, caught the pranksters and had them hauled over to be disciplined for their actions. Sam thanked those who got her clothes back, but she chose to wait until she got back home to change back into them.

At long last with this last school day of the week until the start of a new one behind her, Sam put her regular clothes inside her backpack, slung her jacket over her shoulder and then boarded the awaiting school bus that goes to its designated stop close to home.

On the way back, Sam couldn't help but noticed some peculiarities about this unpleasant day, or more specifically, what it _didn't_ feature: any of her friends really speaking to her all day. It was one thing that two of her friends and bandmates, Sully and Mazzy, who didn't hang around her much at all, but the decidedly puzzling part of it all was how Luna of all people didn't either. In fact, as Sam was making her own leave, she caught a glimpse of Luna hastily getting out of dodge, making for a curiosity the former wracked her mind about what that could be all about.

Regardless, Sam got dropped off at her stop and walked her way back home. By the time she got there and was barely two steps inside, she was in for a heck of a greeting.

"Hey, Sam!"

One exuberant shout and a big hug came about courtesy of the younger of the two Sharp siblings, Simon. Even with the unfavorable day she's been through, a greeting like this from her little brother was always welcomed.

"Hey there, Simon." Sam said, bearing the slightest of grins.

She gave him a quick one-armed hug in return and afterwards, he had several questions based on getting a better look at his big sister.

"Uh, why are you in your gym clothes? Where are your regular clothes? And what happened to your jacket? What is that on it?" Simon asked.

Sam sighed, "It's a long story, little brother, but I'll mention at the very least that those clothes are in my backpack. Now if you can just give me a few minutes to myself, I'm gonna go grab a quick shower and get dressed back up again, okay?"

Passing by Simon after giving him a quick muss of the hair, Sam went upstairs and put her backpack down in her room and laid her jacket over it, then she got her regular clothes out to bring them with her to the bathroom, where she took that quick shower to rinse off the worn gym class odor she had to deal with for the last portion of the school day.

Once Sam was done, dried off and dressed back in her regular clothes, she returned to her room and over to the closet where she retrieved and put on another blue jacket of hers.

"Always good to have more than one of these handy when needed…" She told herself with a small chuckle.

After that, she gathered up both her scummed up jacket from earlier today plus her gym clothes and took them downstairs to be put away with the laundry. That being done and out of the way, she glanced to see Simon sitting the living room almost like he was patiently waiting for her to return. She chose to join him, thinking fewer things were better than relaxing with her little brother by her side after the day she's been through.

"So, when are we going to be leaving for the carnival?" Simon asked.

"Huh? The what now?" Sam asked back totally lost.

"The carnival. You know, the one in town we planned on going to where I also get to finally meet Luna and also get to meet her own brother at the same time." Simon reminded her.

For a couple of seconds, Sam gave Simon something of a thousand yard stare. Carnival? What carnival? The gears in her mind grinded and then it finally hit her, so she then gave him a force, confident smile.

"Oh, of course, the carnival, yeah…" She expressed, laughing a bit nervously, "Uh, see...I...don't remember if they told me what time we were supposed to meet them. Tell you what, let me have a quick talk with Luna and see what she had in mind."

"Okay." Simon said simply.

Sam promptly got up from her seat and went back to her room. The second she closed the door, though, the smile she had quickly disappeared and she groaned while slapping her forehand, dragging her hand down across her face.

"Dang it, I knew there was something I was forgetting…"

Somehow, someway, perhaps in due part as a result of the day she's had so far, Sam had completely forgotten that she and Simon are meant to meet up with Luna and Lincoln today at a carnival that's in town for the week. Now she also had an inkling as to why Luna left so quickly a little earlier, as she likely was heading home to get ready herself.

Speaking of which, just as she told Simon, Sam unzipped one of the pockets of her backpack where she stored her phone and got it out. She noticed that there were several text messages sent by Luna in the last few minutes inquiring to her and awaiting a response. Sensing some urgency, Sam texted out the following:

_Sorry for not responding sooner Lunes. Just got back home._

She waited a few seconds, and sure enough, Luna responded.

_Hey, no prob, brah, it's cool. So, are you hyped for today?_

Next, Sam jotted out another reply.

_Yeah, sure. When are we supposed to meet up again?_

Another text from Luna promptly followed.

_Well, Linc and I might need a bit more time for ourselves to get ready. Would 3:30 be good?_

Sam looked over to the clock on her nightstand and it read 3:15. Fifteen minutes from now seemed a little soon too, so she suggested an extension.

_Can 3:45 work instead? I need some extra time myself._

Some seconds of waiting later, Luna acquiesced.

_Sure, whatever you need. If that's settled, we'll see you then! Can't wait to finally meet your little bro, too!_

Upon getting confirmation, Sam ended the exchange with this last message:

_Okay, good. See you, Luna!_

She put her phone to the side and flopped onto her bed, covered her face and groaned. If Sam was being honest with herself, she actually wasn't in the best of moods for this today. All she really wanted to do was stay at home without having to deal with much of the way of other people outside of her family all because of what happened at school. Yet she hated the idea of having to tell Luna, Lincoln and especially Simon that over fears of greatly disappointing them. Rescheduling the proceedings wasn't feasible also, because although the following day was the final day the carnival was in town, doing it then was out of the question due to Sam already telling Luna and Lincoln days earlier while she was at their house along with Lily that Saturday is going to be a busy day for her, though she forget to mention it was due to a whole gamut of family affairs that were scheduled. So with little other choices being presented, she might as well have to gut it out and go anyway, at least for the sake particularly of Simon.

While Sam deliberated on her mixed emotions over everything, she heard knocking on her bedroom door. She sat up and answered and unsurprisingly, Simon was there.

"So, what did she say?" He asked.

"About what?" Sam said confused again, then it obviously hit her, "Oh right, about the carnival and such. Well, we got done texting each other and agreed that 3:45 is the time to go with. Sound good with you?"

"Yeah, sure!" Simon answered enthusiastically, "This is gonna be awesome!"

He turned and was about to leave, which made Sam start closing the door, but he wanted to know one other thing.

"Hey, Sam?"

"Huh?"

"You didn't forget about today, did you?"

"What? No, of course not, Simon!" Sam tried denying, "I just wanted to clear up what time was good to go, that's all. Now we know and all is good!"

Simon wasn't sure at first, but ultimately smiled, "Okay, cool! But wait, is 3:45 when we're supposed to leave or when we'll get there?"

"Oh, uh...that sounds like when we'll meet up with Luna and Lincoln, so maybe we should leave about five minutes early." Sam suggested.

"All right, sounds good! Guess I'll leave you alone until it's time to go." Simon said.

Finally, he went on his way and Sam closed the door, sighing upon doing so. She hated not admitting to Simon she did in fact forget about today's proceedings and it made her feel real bad inside. Now she really did feel like she had no other choice than to go through with things no matter the amount of reluctance that built up.

But she did have to try in being optimistic here. Perhaps having fun with her little brother plus Luna and Lincoln as well could be what bolsters her spirits to counteract the doldrums that school had gave her.

* * *

Some time later, over at the Loud house, both Luna and Lincoln were getting themselves prepared for the carnival as well. When both were ready, they came out of their respective rooms and crossed each other's paths along the way.

"Hey, ready to get going, Luna?" Lincoln asked her.

"Sure am, bro! This is gonna be a rockin' day out for sure! I especially can't wait to finally meet Simon!" Luna responded vigorously.

"I'm certainly ready to meet him as well." Lincoln agreed, "In fact, that seems to be the one thing you're most excited about today more than anything."

"Well, you can't really blame me in a sense, Linc. Like you've heard me say when Sam was over here days ago that it seemed strange how she and I have hung out for some time now and I've somehow never met that little dude of hers yet, and if I'm gonna, you know...make it work with her, it only makes sense that I start getting to know someone else in her fam just as she's already done with you and more recently with Lily." Luna said.

"Yeah, I can understand that. So again, shall we be on our way?" Lincoln reiterated.

Luna nodded, "Let's shall! How about you lead the way?"

Lincoln nodded in return and he began going down the stairs with Luna following behind. They arrived at the ground floor where they saw their sisters together in the living room.

"Hey, dudes, me and Lincoln are gonna be heading out right now, so be sure to tell our 'rents that, all right?" Luna informed them.

"Sure, we'll tell them." Lori said.

"Have a totes bunch of fun, you guys!" Lenin added.

Both Luna and Lincoln heard additional overlapping well wishes and "see you laters" from everyone else as they stepped on out the front door and off to meet up with the Sharp siblings.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sam and Simon were taking a bus on over to the carnival. On the way, Simon rattled off several things he hoped to do once they got there.

"...and then we can go a merry-go-round, then maybe we can eat cotton candy and, uh...oh, oh, we could…"

But Sam wasn't really paying attention to what he was listing out. It only came off to her as faded background noise while she looked out the window at everything that passed on by. Even close to an hour removed from then, everything from her unfortunate day at school still weighed down on her and she was having her doubts of this day out being enough to erase all the irritation and drab feelings from all the occurred earlier on.

"Sam? Hey, Sam!"

She did get brought back into reality when she heard Simon trying to get her attention.

"What? What is it, Simon?" Sam wondered.

"Is there something going on? You looked a little...uh, lost, maybe?" Simon inquired.

"No, I'm good, Simon. I was just...letting my mind wander for bit, that's all." Sam attempted explaining away.

Simon sort of thought to the contrary and given this was the second time she awkwardly passing something off that he asked, he began to wonder if there was something truly bothering his sister. However, he chose to let it go and only focus on the events ahead.

* * *

Elsewhere in that time, Luna and Lincoln stepped off from their own bus ride and continued their journey on foot.

"Hey, Luna, don't know why I haven't said something like this yet, but are you hoping that this day will lead to anything more substantive between you and Sam?" Lincoln asked.

"Well, uh…" Luna uttered, blushing and being taken off guard by that question, "I'm not entirely sure, bro. I was only seeing this day as sort of a simple casual day out for us plus her and Simon, soI don't really think there would be much in the way of room for that kinda thing. Anything's possible I suppose, but I'm not placing too high of a priority on that at least for now."

"Oh, all right then." Lincoln said, laughing a bit awkwardly, "Well, speaking of hanging out, at least this time around we planned this out in advance instead of me arriving at the last moment and we won't have to risk something like when you…"

Luna reached over and softly put her hand on his head, "Ah...I think I know where you going with this, Lincoln, and I'm gonna stop you while you're ahead. We don't need to relive that horrible incident and I certainly wish to never do something like that again no matter the circumstances. So let's not worry about that and only focus on the day ahead, okay?"

"Yeah, sure…" Lincoln replied regretfully, "Sorry...didn't mean to try dredging up... _that..._ again."

"It's okay, bro. I knew that wasn't your intent, but overall it's best not to let stuff like that drag you down and instead only look ahead and live in the here and now with the best of possibilities in mind." Luna said encouragingly.

As both shared smiles in each other's direction, they rounded a corner on the sidewalk and sitting right at a bench just a couple of feet were the other two individuals of the equation this whole day was about.

"Hey there, you guys!"

Before Luna could return her own greeting, she saw and felt the force of Sam come running up to her and become one in a big hug.

"Oh..!" Luna uttered surprised, eventually though hugging her back, "Nice to see you again, too, Sam. Got a little extra energy here than expected...not that I'm complaining, mind you."

"Hey, you deserve it, Luna." Sam said.

After disengaging from the hug, she directed her attention next to Lincoln.

"Hey there, Sam. Good to see you." He greeted her, extending out his hand.

Sam chuckled, "Oh, come on now, Lincoln, we've known and hung around each other long enough for you to know we're well past the handshake phase of things. Now come over here…"

Lincoln then got to feel the same unexpectedness that Luna just seconds ago felt when he too now got enveloped into a hug from Sam. Despite some brief hesitance, he nevertheless also returned the hug.

"So, you guys doing good?" Sam asked upon releasing Lincoln from her grasp.

"Yeah, we're a pair of chill dudes right now. But enough about us, because I do believe I see a little dude that I've been waiting to meet for a while now!" Luna responded, a big smile forming on her face.

She peered over the shoulder of the sister of said little dude who had a little smile of his own as he hopped off the bench and came over closer.

"Well, I do believe introductions are in order…" Sam started saying as put an arm around her brother, "Guys, this here is my little brother, Simon, and Simon, this is Lincoln, who is the younger brother of course of this girl right here you've probably heard me say a thing or two about, Luna."

"Hi!" Simon cheerily greeted.

"Hey there, nice to meet you, Simon." Lincoln said, extending his hand out to shake Simon's own.

By contrast to the reserved manner of which the two boys greeted one another, Luna bent down closer to Simon's level and was more blithe in her own salutation.

"Well, how are you, Simon? So nice to see you up close and personal at long last! You really do look like a sweet little dude in person than what your big sis has shown me in some pics with her." She said right off the bat.

"Oh...heh…" Simon laughed, blushing some, catching the attention of his sister.

"You feeling shy, Simon?" Sam asked him.

"What? Oh, no, I just...didn't think I hear something like that right away from your girlfriend, that's all." Simon said.

"Girlfriend? Um...I wouldn't call her _that_...yet…" Sam argued nervously and having her turn at blushing.

"Huh? But I thought you and her were dating." Simon mentioned.

A series of awkward laughs came out of Sam's mouth and her blush turning more red by the second.

"You okay, Sam?" Simon asked.

Sam patted his shoulder, "Oh, of course, but uh….Luna, do you mind if I have quick talk with you before we all get going?"

"Oh...all right, sure." Luna replied, briefly turning to Lincoln afterwards, "Hey, how about you and Simon get to know each other while I chat with Sam?"

Lincoln nodded, "Sure."

As the two younger brothers of the Loud and Sharp varieties got to talking, Sam brought Luna to the same corner area that she and Lincoln just came from to have their own talk.

"Uh...sorry about what Simon said just now. Didn't think he'd assume things like that between us...you know, the... _girlfriend_ part of it." Sam said, rubbing the back of her neck ashamedly.

"Hey, no big deal at all, Sam." Luna assured, "The only thing that might've honestly knocked me for a loop is how casually he dropped something like that. I didn't think a dude as young as he looks would act so chill about it."

"Yeah, that's something which has always taken me by surprise. When he first learned that I had taken interest in another girl, he simply took it as if it were anything else. I don't know if that's how he's always seen things like that or if he learned to understand it from elsewhere, but it does make me so proud that he made no fuss over it nor did had to give him some long and potentially awkward talk about the subject." Sam said with a light grin.

"Heh, same deal on my end with Lincoln." Luna brought up, "Truthfully I didn't know how'd he react once I sat him aside and explained everything. But he took it perfectly in stride and has since become one of my biggest supporters in all of this. Well, that and the fact he has a best bud living with two dads, so he already does have some familiarity with this sorta thing and maybe that helped with him."

"Really? I had no idea about that." Sam stated in surprise, "Well, anyway, sorry again for all the awkwardness of just moments ago."

Luna shook her head and patted Sam's shoulder, "Nah, don't be, brah. Now come on, let's not keep our little bros waiting too much longer and let the fun flow!"

And with that, she lead the way back to Lincoln and Simon while Sam followed along and then all four made the last few steps over as they arrived at the entrance to the carnival.

"So, what shall we do first?" Lincoln asked.

"Hmm…" Luna contemplated, but then she looked down to the smallest and youngest of the group, "Say, how about you pick first, Simon?"

"Really? Me?" Simon said, "Well…"

He gazed around, trying to see anything that caught his curiosity. Soon, he may have found the first thing he thought everyone could enjoy.

"Oh, how about the tilt-a-whirl?"

Sure enough, everyone else appeared to like the sound of that and headed over for that ride. They split off into pairs with Luna and Lincoln getting into one car and Sam and Simon into another. After affixing their seatbelts, the ride ever so slowly got it start and little by little, the cars increased in speed in which they spun around and the platform beneath shifted around.

For Luna and Lincoln, they clearly were having fun based on the joyful shouts and whooping on their end of things, while with Sam and Simon, it was more of a mixed bag. Simon was having a blast, but Sam on the other hand wasn't so much. The constant turning and shifting felt rather unsettling on her hand to the point of making her quite ill.

Luckily, the ride came to a gradual halt and everyone disembarked. In a humorous little moment, Simon stumbled around from dizziness induced by the ride and nearly fell over, but was caught by Luna.

"Whoa, you all right, little dude?" She asked while giggling.

"Yeah, I'm good." Simon answered, shaking his head to regain himself and also laughing.

On the other hand, Sam looked more uneasy still and it caused some concern, especially for her brother.

"Are you doing okay, Sam?" He asked.

"Uh...yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me…" Sam replied.

However, unfortunately for her, she might've spoken just a bit too soon. Her stomach growled and she clutched at it while covering her mouth.

"Wait, on second thought…" She said between a gag, "Oh dear...I need to find the restroom and fast…"

"Uh...I think I saw one right around that way." Lincoln noted, pointing to the left.

Leaving them behind in a hurry, Sam made a break for it and luckily did find nearby restroom. She dashed inside and barely made it to one of the toilets so she could kneel down to heave out the sickly contents that came up from her stomach and out her mouth.

Upon having that gross sensation and experience pass by, she groaned weakly.

"Well...so much for this day getting any better for me…"

After cough a pair of times, Sam flushed the toilet. She would then wash her hands, take a quick moment to give her mouth a basic rinsing to get any remaining residual gunk out and dried her hands in the end. Finally, she rejoined with the group.

"Hey, you all right, Sam?" Simon asked yet again.

"Yes, I'm fine…" Sam replied with a touch of annoyance, but tried her best in putting on a smile next, "Okay, with that little incident out of the way, what shall we do next?"

"Well, I think you should pick now, bro." Luna said as she turned over to her brother.

"Sure, Luna. Okay, let's see what we have here…" Lincoln said, surveying the area.

He lead the rest of the group with him while he kept on looking for something to do next. Ultimately, it was when they came across a row of carnival games that Lincoln saw something worth doing, particularly since one of them was being manned by a familiar shrewd mustachioed face.

"Whoa...Flip?"

"Yeah, that's my name, don't wear it out!"

Indeed, none other than the owner and proprietor of Flip's Food & Fuel, plus cheapskate extraordinaire Flip was kicking back on a chair while holding down the stand hosting the classic game of tossing a ball to knock down a set of milk bottles.

"Huh, since when did you do carnival games, Flip?" Lincoln inquired.

"Eh, Flip's been doing this for as long as carnivals have been coming to these here parts, and who can blame me for squeezing out a few bucks out of the generous denizens who come around?" Flip explained, "Now you gonna take a chance to play and win a prize or make Flip flap his gums for no reason and longer than needed?"

"Well...we're hear now, so why not?" Lincoln said, "In fact, just to make things more fun, how about we each give it shot?"

Flip's eyes grew over that prospect, "Ooh, Flip can approve of that. If that's the case…two bucks per person!"

Finding that upcharge unsurprising, Luna and Lincoln both rolled their eyes, while Sam and Simon on other hand didn't exactly react quite as cynically as neither had as much experience with Flip's conniving ways.

"Should've saw that one coming…" Luna remarked.

"Yeah, probably…" Lincoln conceded, "Maybe on second thought we should reconsider."

"Hey, but I wanna play!" Simon spoke up.

"Oh...you sure about that?" Lincoln wondered.

Simon nodded, "Yeah, I do!"

"Well...I guess if he does, and assuming the same for you two dudes as well, I guess I can be game, too." Luna said, addressing both Sam and Lincoln, too.

"Sure." Lincoln affirmed.

"Yeah, in fact I can even…" Sam was in the middle of saying, reaching into her pocket.

However, she apparently didn't find what she was expecting and sighed roughly.

"Oh, come on! I thought I brought a little money with me!" She grumbled, hardly making her day that much better.

"Whoa, no need to rile yourself up, Sam! Linc and I came prepared for this day, so don't worry!" Luna assured her.

She pulled out some money of her own that totaled to eight bucks based on what Flip said and he enthusiastically accepted it. Next, he brought out four balls and handed one to each of them.

"Now, you get one shot each. Who wants to go first?" Flip asked.

"I do, I do!" Simon said as he hopped up and down.

He took his ball and tossed it over to the bottles, managing to actually knock the very top one off.

"Hey, not bad, Simon!" Luna complimented him.

"Yeah, yeah, not bad, kid, but Flip must casually remind everyone that you have to knock _all_ of them down in order to win." Flip said, cocksure grin and all.

"Yes, we know, now let me give it shot here." Lincoln said.

As he got his ball into his hand and as Flip repositioned the top bottle, Lincoln took a few seconds to prep his shot, then he fired away. He had a little better luck than Simon, this time taking out the bottom left one of the three, which took it and the top one down, and though the third remaining one wobbled around, it managed to stay in place.

"Oh, so close, but no cigar!" Flip shouted.

"Yeah, and I must also confess, Flip, I didn't expect things to go like they have been." Lincoln said, "Knowing the reputation of how some carnival games are rigged and you're own...proclivities to put it lightly, I'd figure you'd do something like glue the bottles together or something."

Flip shrugged, "Hey, Flip can be an honest broker when he wants to be. Now, who's next?"

"Uh...I guess I'll give it a go." Sam answered.

With the bottles put back in place again by Flip, Sam took her shot and flung the ball at what she thought was a guaranteed strike. Instead, it flew a few inches to the right, missing the bottles completely, then it bounced off the tent and ricocheted back, nearly hitting Flip in the process before Sam rather miraculously caught it in hands.

"Hey, watch it, blondie! You're supposed to be aiming for the bottles, not trying to give poor ol' Flip a concussion!" He told her irritably.

"Uh….sorry?" Sam apologized sheepishly.

"Well, I'll say this that you have some pretty mad skills in snagging that sucker when it came flying back at you, Sam!" Luna said very much impressed, pointing to the ball.

"Oh...thanks, Luna. Not that I was trying to catch it, but hey…" Sam said.

Luna chuckled, "Hey, no matter what, it was still rad! Anyway, I believe it's mine turn now."

With her being the last chance, Luna took her time in trying to square up the precise angle in which to topple all the bottles. Thinking she's got it, she loaded up and fired away, but just like with Lincoln's attempt, she took out the bottom left one and the top came down, but the final one stubbornly refused to fall.

"Aw, man, that's bogus!" Luna said in disbelief.

"Heh...well, looks like you all fell short in this case!" Flip all but bragged, "But hey, if you're in the mood, you can give it another shot! Have no qualms about getting more extra cheddar from you!"

"Uh...I think we'll pass on that, Flip." Lincoln said on his group's behalf.

Flip shrugged, "Eh, suit yourselves."

With that unsuccessful endeavor done, the four of them moved along elsewhere.

"You know, now I'm kinda suspecting something might've been up. I mean, I did pretty much the same thing you did, bro, and yet somehow that last dang bottle didn't wanna cooperate." Luna said as she looked to her brother.

"Maybe, or it was dumb luck that it didn't fall." Lincoln suggested.

"Eh, whateves. Let's just find something else to do next."

While that talk between Luna and Lincoln was going on, Simon looked up to Sam and noticed she had the same expression on her face he saw that she had while they were riding on the bus. He was becoming more convinced that something must be going on with her.

"Sam, what's wrong?" He asked.

"What do mean by that? There's nothing wrong with me." Sam immediately discounted.

"Are you sure?" Simon reiterated.

"Yes, nothing! Just...let it go and let's focus on keeping on having fun." Sam insisted on, forcing a smile on her face.

Reluctantly, Simon sighed and didn't proceed further in with the topic.

The next half hour saw the four take part in a pair of other activities, but each time for one reason or another Sam saw herself on the receiving end of less than fortunate luck. At one point, she got frustratingly lost while they took part in a wacky house of mirrors maze which necessitated Simon opting to go back and help her out. Then while she stood back with Luna to watch Lincoln and Simon ride a merry-go-round, the ride ended up malfunctioning somewhat where the horse that poor unlucky Simon just so conveniently was on sent him flying right to Sam's direction, and whilst that happened, his elbow accidentally clipped her nose, as if having one nasal injury already today wasn't enough.

In the aftermath, and after a handful of tissues to soak up another slightly bloody nose from Sam, she and the rest of the group took in some relaxation time at a bench. Right off the bat, she heard the same question asked of her by Simon time and again throughout the day.

"You okay, Sam?" He asked.

"Yes…" Sam replied in a low voice, "My nose is fine…"

"I don't mean just that, but in general. I know there's something up." Simon said, becoming more convinced of that fact.

"Simon, there's nothing 'up', all right?" Sam shot back, covering up her face and groaning.

"Yes there is! Stop lying to me and trying to pretend there's..."

"Okay, that does it!" Sam blurted furiously.

She slammed her hands against the bench and glared down down at Simon, both actions which took Luna and Lincoln off guard as they watched on.

"Since you're so damn obsessed with this, Simon, then fine, I'll fess up! No, I'm not okay and haven't been all day long! I had a terrible day at school that put me in a bad mood already that involved some morons spilling something on my jacket, getting lectured by one of my teachers for being late because of having to wipe it down some and getting teased a bit as well, tripping over my own feet and getting the first of two bloody noses of the day, some more idiots pulling a so called 'prank' by stealing my regular clothes and having to spend the remaining class in my gym attire before they were finally found before the end of the day, all while others complained about the scent of sweat I gave out! Because of all that, I didn't really want to come here in the first place and yes, I did forget about it before you brought up to me when I came back home, but I guess having you or Luna or Lincoln going on some session of guilt on me wasn't something I wished for, so I went along with things anyway hoping they'd turn out better for me, but _no_ , I guessed wrong, because there's been this last hour or so where I threw up thanks to _your_ bright idea of going on the tilt-a-whirl or when you just had to come flying off the merry-go-round and land on me to give me my second bloody nose! And hell, let's not forget all the times so far you've badgered me about how I'm doing! So are you happy now, Simon?! Huh?! You satisfied that you've gotten what you wanted out of me?!"

Finally, Sam's long winded screed came to an end. She breathed heavily as a stunned Luna and Lincoln couldn't believe what they've heard and seen. But that was nothing compared to Simon reacted. He was terrified by the manner of which his sister went off on him, so much so that tears bubbled up in his eyes and he began to sniffle.

In an instant, Sam's hostile demeanor completely dissipated. Her sneering glare softened to a sympathetic gaze.

"Wait, Simon...I…"

But whatever she wanted to say next, Simon wasn't having any of it as he got off from the bench and ran off crying.

"Simon!" Sam shouted.

He didn't hear her or didn't care and he was out of view a few seconds later.

Now it was Sam's turn to tear up as well. She covered up her face again with her hands and weeped.

"Oh no...what have I done?"

With the quickly deteriorating scene unraveling before them, Luna and Lincoln both knew they wanted to help out in their own way in a flash.

"Hey, Lincoln, go see if you can track down Simon. I'll handle things with Sam here, okay?" Luna said.

"Sure, I'm on it." Lincoln stated determinedly.

He set off in the same general direction Simon ran off to. At the same time, Luna helped Sam up from the bench and guided her over to a more isolated location. It was then that Luna wrapped up Sam into an embrace, which only made the latter feel more comfortable in crying harder.

"Why? Why...did...did I...say all that...stuff to him?" Sam choked out, "What's wrong with me?!"

"Hey, hey, it's okay, Sam. Let it out and we'll nail down everything in a sec." Luna told her gently.

And let it all Sam certainly did. Her face buried into the shoulder of Luna, she poured it out, both from the sheer guilt of how she just acted toward Simon and all the frustration she had built up inside from the school day of a few hours ago. All that as Luna ran her hand up and down Sam's back to soothe her.

A couple of minutes in, Luna could hear a notification coming from her phone. While still maintaining an arm around Sam, she pulled it out and saw it was a text from Lincoln.

_Hey, I managed to find Simon. What should we do next?_

Sighing in relief, Luna quickly put out a response.

_Stay by his side for a little bit, bro. Still need to handle things with Sam._

Putting her phone away after that text, she returned her full attention to Sam.

"Well, Lincoln managed to find Simon rather quickly." Luna told her.

"Really? Where is he?" Sam asked in desperation.

"Now, chill for a sec, Sam. I want to dig a bit deeper about how and why you blew up on your little bro like you did first." Luna said.

Luna parted herself away from Sam and assisted in brushing any stray tears off from her face before going any further.

"So, you had a bad day at school earlier?" Luna inquired.

Sam nodded lightly, "Yeah...and I'm surprised you never noticed that I was during then. Why was that?"

Luna sighed uncomfortably, "Well, truthfully I sort of did, but I didn't say much of anything because of a combination of not thinking you were to bothered by what little I saw of you today in that time and I didn't know at all about that whole gnarly business of some dopes snatching your clothes after your gym class, since you know we don't have the same last pair of classes near the end of the day. Plus with my mind hooked on this carnival, I didn't really give everything else beforehand much thought and for that I do want to apologize, Sam."

"Well, thanks, and I don't hold it against you for not checking up on me during the day, Luna." Sam said, "Yeah, it'd been nice if you did, but I don't blame you given everything else that was on your mind."

"That's good to hear, but I'll do better in the future nonetheless." Luna promised.

With that, they both smiled at one another and hugged.

"Guess we've both now had our individual instances of acting like total idiots to our little brothers in recent memory." Sam mentioned with a small, uneasy laugh.

"Yeah, true that, but at least yours was nothing compared to what a wicked, little bonehead I was to Lincoln. You at least kept a cool enough head to not go completely over the edge with Simon." Luna countered with half humorously, half seriously.

"I guess, but that still doesn't make what I did to him any less wrong, and really want to make things right." Sam said with a frown, "Hopefully he'll hear me out."

"Hey, I'm betting he will, just like when you told me Lincoln was willing to do the same after my own awful actions against him." Luna said, smiling at Sam.

Returning a smile of her own, Sam took a deep breath and followed Luna along as they looked for wherever Lincoln and Simon could be.

It took some searching, but Luna and Sam eventually found them. They saw Lincoln sitting on another bench with an arm around Simon. Sam couldn't help but smile, not only because she found it to be a sweet scene on its own merits, but because it looked reminiscent of when she was by Lincoln's side while she set up and waited for the moment of reconciliation between him and Luna not too long ago.

"Oh, hey, you guys." Lincoln said as they arrived.

"Hey, bro. Nice going in finding Simon." Luna told him.

"Yeah, thank you so much, Lincoln." Sam said gratefully, going over and giving him a quick, congratulatory hug, "Now if you don't mind, can you and Luna give me a little time alone with him?"

Lincoln nodded, "Sure we can. That's what I was gonna suggest anyway, so we'll do just that."

He got off the bench, joining up with Luna and both headed off to give that very alone time for Sam and Simon.

As Sam sat down next to her brother, Simon had a difficulty looking back at her. She didn't blame him at all for his nervousness and wanted to work fast in getting him more relaxed and calm.

"Simon, I'm just gonna cut to the chase." Sam began saying, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, "I'm so sorry from the bottom of my heart for unloading on you like I did. There was no reason for it and also there was no excuse for some of the language I used. Yeah, it was of the milder sort, but that didn't make right for me to say it to someone of your age. And yeah, I had a bad day at school and I should've been more open about while taking your inquiries over how I was feeling better."

She reached out and used her other hand to cup his cheek to turn and make him look her in the eyes.

"But one thing I want to emphasize to you is no matter what I said, you had nothing to do with how bad my attitude was."

Simon was very confused by that claim, "What? But what about when I…"

"Simon...you had _nothing_ to do with how bad my attitude was." Sam repeated firmly and calmly, "It was all that happened during school that got me in the mood in the first place. Everything else was only incidental and I would've totally understood right away they were accidents and nothing more had I not had my bad day at school, and again, I get that you were only being a good little brother asking me how I was doing or if something was wrong. After all, no matter what kind of day I have, knowing you're in my life will always make it better."

So heartened to hear that was Simon, he didn't waste a single moment in scooting closer to Sam and gave her a big hug, something she was readily able to give back to him, too.

"Thank you, Sam. You make my life better as well. I love you." Simon said relieved.

"Aw, I love you, too, Simon and that's never gonna change." Sam reciprocated warmly.

They held on to each other for a minute more and when did let go, Sam lightly kissed Simon's forehead, causing him to giggle.

"Anyway, let's go find Luna and Lincoln, then we'll see where we go from here." She said.

Simon nodded and he and Sam were able to find the two Loud siblings minding their own business not too far away.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Lincoln asked them.

"All good and everything in between." Sam proudly said, mussing around Simon's hair.

"Aw, good to hear the rhythm's back in form with you two dudes." Luna said sweetly, "Well, shall we keep the fun rolling?"

"I sure would, but I have an idea. How about to close things out you and Lincoln do a little something just the two of you while me and Simon do the same?" Sam suggested.

"Hey, I'm down with that. And you're right, I think we both deserve some time just with our own little bros, wouldn't you say, Linc?" Luna asked of her brother.

"Yeah, I can be okay with that." Lincoln agreed.

"Well, if that's the case, how about we take about, oh, twenty more minutes for each of us and then we'll meet back up before leaving. Sound good?" Sam offered.

"Yeah, sure, I sign up for that." Luna answered.

So with that agreed upon, Luna and Lincoln went one way while Sam and Simon went another route. In the case of the latter pair, they had chosen to take a ride on the Ferris wheel. It was something that Simon was understandably nervous over at first, but with some encouragement from Sam, he ultimately agreed to go for it.

As their ride got started, Simon still felt a little anxious and he held on to his big sister, which Sam didn't mind and put an arm around him for extra support. But once the ride reached its apex at the top, Simon's uneasiness drifted away and he was in awe of the sights he could see from this vantage point as was Sam, too.

Upon the end of the ride, Sam and Simon disembarked and wondered what to do next in the last bit of time they had left.

"Ooh, I want to get some cotton candy!" Simon excitedly said.

Sam chuckled over his enthusiasm, "You know, I do vaguely remember you saying something like that on our way over here. Sure, I could perhaps go for some myself."

Having agreed on that, they were on their way to find a stand that served up the stuff, but one crucial detail came back to mind."

"Oh, wait, of course…" Sam said with sigh, "That's right, I didn't bring any money…"

"Well...can't we ask Luna and Lincoln to help us out?" Simon reminded her.

"I suppose...I mean, as long as they don't mind. Looks like we'll have to track them down, then." Sam replied.

So they set off on finding those two. Turns out there was no need for some long winding search as not only did they find Luna and Lincoln in no time at all, but also in a huge case of happenstance were sitting down enjoying that very same cottony sweet treat themselves.

"Oh, hey, I didn't think we'd see you again so quickly." Lincoln noted upon their arrival.

"We'll we kind of needed to find you guys. You see, Simon here has a hankering for cotton candy and I may as well join in on that craving as well. But we obviously can't afford it ourselves due to lacking the money to do that, so if you have anything to spare, mind if we could borrow some?" Sam requested.

"Hey, of course we can!" Luna answered approvingly, "Here, gimme a sec…"

She took a brief moment and eventually got out a proper sum for two additional batches of cotton candy and handed it over to Sam.

"Oh, thanks, Luna. I'll be sure to pay you back soon." She said.

"Nah, don't worry about that, Sam. Consider it a nice gesture of mine to someone who means a lot to me…" Luna said with a little wink.

Sam blushed lightly, but regained herself enough to accept the money and went over to grab a couple servings of cotton candy. She returned a minute later and handed over one to Simon, who was all too eager to begin consuming it down promptly.

"Whoa, you might want to slow down there, little bro!" Sam said while laughing.

Simon didn't exactly follow that recommendation and in almost no time, he had eaten the whole stick of cotton candy down to the last little remaining bit.

"Oh, I love that it was so good if anyone has leftovers I can take them!" He said in a full on sugar rush.

Laughter was shared among everyone with that and eventually each had also finished up with their respective servings and with that, it also marked a satisfactory enough ending for the day as well. They left the carnival behind them and took a moment to say their goodbyes.

"Well, I'd say that was a worthwhile day out if I do say so myself." Lincoln said.

"Yeah, it ruled!" Simon added happily.

"I'll agree, dudes, it was a rockin' good time!" Luna chimed in.

"I guess I'll add to that myself as well. Although it might've took me a little bit, but I can admit to having fun, too." Sam rounded out with, "And hey, I already did so with Simon and I may as well do the same for you two as well in apologizing for my behavior earlier."

"Hey, it's all right, Sam. We all have times when we unfortunately lose it in front of someone at some point or another. But at least the important thing is when we recognize when that is wrong and make amends." Lincoln put it succinctly.

"Heh...well isn't that the truth." Sam admitted, looking over to Luna, "You certainly have one smart little brother there, Luna."

Luna smiled, "One of the many things that makes him lovable. And speaking of lovable…"

To Simon's surprise, she knelt down to him, hugged him and even quickly kissed him on the cheek, causing him to giggle somewhat nervously.

"Whoa, little soon for that?" Sam humorously observed.

"Hey, you did the same to Lincoln after admitting how attached you already became to him, so why not I do the same for this little dude, too?" Luna countered with a grin.

Sam shrugged, "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Guess getting attached to the other's little brother soon after meeting them is another thing we both have in common."

"Hey, you're right!" Luna said in realization, "Anyway, we should all get going, but before we do, mind if I have another quick chat with you in private, Sam?"

"Sure, I'd like that. I was gonna suggest that myself actually." Sam responded.

"All right, cool! Give us a moment and we'll be right back, okay, dudes?" Luna told both Lincoln and Simon.

The boys both smiled and nodded as they saw both their sisters head over to get some privacy between them.

"So, you holding up?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. Hey, I want to thank you for dealing with all that unfortunate stuff that happened between me and Simon so well. You and Lincoln both helped us out greatly." Sam said gratefully.

"Aw, it was no trouble at all, Sam. Think of it as my way of returning the favor after you helped with my bro and I days ago and the same when you looked after Lily until I brought Linc home as well. I'm really beginning to think I made the right choice with you…" Luna said, blushing in the process.

Sam also had her blush, "Yeah...I'm thinking that, too…"

After that tender exchange, they embraced each other fondly and when they parted, they realized how tantalizingly close their faces were. As much as they wanted to, though, they parted further away, thinking it might just still be a little bit too soon to...take the biggest step yet in their budding relationship. But they both knew internally that time has to be coming sooner rather than later.

"Well...guess we shouldn't be keeping the boys waiting much longer." Sam said.

"Yeah, probably. However, speaking of which, there is something I could ask you to do." Luna brought up.

Sam turned her head to the side, "Oh? Like what?"

"Simple...while I don't doubt at all you love Simon with every bit of your heart, but do me a favor and when you do get back home, take him to the side, give him a big hug, maybe add a kiss on one of those cute little cheeks of his and remind him how much he means to you." Luna answered, "In fact, speaking of something else…"

Before Sam knew it, she was brought back into another hug by Luna, and even more so when Luna also did place a soft kiss right along her cheek as well, giving Sam another mad blush.

"I think I made my point pretty loud and clear." Luna cheekily said.

Sam laughed nervously, "I...think so, too."

Both chuckled and finally they returned to sides of Lincoln and Simon. Both sides exchanged goodbyes and promises of hanging out together again at some point. While Sam and Simon then started their journey home, Luna and Lincoln stood by for a moment until the former hugged the latter from behind and kissed his cheek.

"Uh...what was that for, Luna?" Lincoln asked with a light laugh.

"Why not? Just showing how much you mean to me, bro. You ever gonna complain about that?" Luna said teasingly.

Lincoln grinned and patted one of his sister's hands "No, I guess not."

Meanwhile, Sam and Simon had taken another bus back home at least until they got to a stop in order to go on foot for the rest of the way. It was during that walk that Sam noticed some discomfort with Simon as he was rubbing his hands up and down his arms.

"Something wrong, Simon?" She inquired.

"I don't know why, but I'm feeling a little cold now." He answered.

He kept rubbing his arms, then he suddenly noticed Sam taking off her jacket and putting it over his shoulders.

"Oh...thanks, Sam, but what about you?" Simon wondered.

"Ah, I'll be okay until we make it back home." Sam assured him.

Simon smiled and felt thankful for his sister's generosity. They resumed walking until the arrived at the front doorstep of their home. One thing they both noticed was that the car that's usually on the driveway was absent, suggesting their parents were off somewhere.

"Huh, where are Mom and Dad, Sam?" Simon asked.

Sam shrugged, "Beats me, Simon. Maybe we'll find out soon."

Nevertheless, they both went inside where Simon handed Sam her jacket back and she slung it over her shoulder. As Simon then headed for the living room, Sam made her way to the kitchen and it was there she found a note on the refrigerator.

_Dear Sam and Simon,_

_We're off on our special date night for the evening in case you're wondering where we are if you come back home and it's just you two. Hope you had a great time at the carnival and we'll be back home ourselves about 9:00. Hopefully you'll be able to scrounge something up for dinner until then as well._

_Love, Mom and Dad._

"Oh, that's right, they did say something about a date night…" Sam said to herself, then she sarcastically chuckled, "And yeah, I'm certainly known for my world class gourmet cooking credentials, Mom and Dad."

Anyway, Sam chose to leave the kitchen and joined alongside Simon, who she noticed was looking pretty worn out.

"You look like you had quite the day." She said with a chuckle.

"Maybe?" Simon agreed, "So where are Mom and Dad."

"Oh, they're having something of a date night out and won't be back home until 9:00, so it's gonna be just you and me until then." Sam informed him.

"Oh...okay then…" Simon wearily said.

He groaned a little in exhaustion and his sister on the spot had an idea.

"Hey, come here, Simon…."

Sam rested herself with her back against one of the arms and pillows of the couch and ushered her brother to come closer to her. As Simon complied, she eventually reached with her arms and pulled him close against her with the side of his head snuggling right up her chest. For an added effect, she took her jacket and laid it across him like a blanket and put her arms around him in a loving embrace.

"There, I think we both deserve something of rest before perhaps we try to figure what we could have for dinner." Sam said.

"Okay...I can go for that." Simon agreed.

"Yeah...and by the way, let me take this time to again apologize for the way I behaved earlier, Simon. I'll do my best in not trying to do that often." Sam promised to him.

"Thanks, Sam…" Simon said, still very much worn out, "And I also want to say again that I love you as well."

Sam smiled and kissed his cheek, "I love you, too, Simon. You mean so much to me."

She hugged him a little tighter and they both settled further in their moment of relaxation together. But before going any further with that, there was one other thing that was brought up.

"Hey, Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you promise me something?"

"Of course."

"Can we do more things just you and me together sometime outside of the house? We haven't done that along recently and wish to do more of that."

"Sure, I'd love to."

Sam stroked Simon's hair and rested the side of her head along the top of his. To think that the majority of the day went downhill for her and she almost didn't go through with the planned trip to the carnival because of it. She only reluctantly went ahead with everything and even then more bad things befell her, with the absolute lowlight being when she went off on her little brother. But thanks to Luna and Lincoln, and her own immediate guilt, things were patched up in a hurry.

If there was one major takeway Sam will forever hold for this day, it's that even the worst of days can still end on a tremendously high note. The combination of hanging out with Luna and Lincoln again, growing ever more closer and reaching still newer heights with the former and at least for now most importantly, bonding now with her little brother, she knew there was a whole lot in life she had to love and appreciate, and the lows can never compete against all the best she holds nearest and dearest to her heart.

**Author's Note:**

> And that does it for another one.
> 
> So yes, Sam and Simon had their own "Only One Afternoon" style instance of discord, just not anywhere near as intense and the moment of reconciliation wasn't as emotional or had any tears shed between the two of them. Goes to show that every sibling relationship isn't perfect, but the bad moments are always outnumbered by the good and the bad will always be patched up in the end.
> 
> And yes, what a tease I indeed am for that bit between Luna and Sam near the end. But in due time, things will come together... ;)
> 
> Okay, that does it for this time. As always, thanks for the read and the support, and we'll see each other again, usually quite soon!


End file.
